I am thinking about writing/blogging again. Like about how academic libraries are made in the image of colonialist enterprises, and it will take more work to rectify than LibGuides.
@kklevine Can you explain how they're like colonial enterprises? I haven't heard this criticism of libraries before, only museums that hold on to artifacts dug under colonialism (like the British Museum but also many others). Is it the same issue for academic libraries, or is it something else?
@Alon it's very much the same issues as museums (though not exactly). Academia was often a tool of colonialism through researching techniques, training bureaucrats, and exploiting other lands for research. Their libraries are an arm of that.
Academic libraries talk about democratizing access, but their power (and value) lies in exclusivity and gatekeeping to give their institutions and edge.
Add comment